Day 2 - Candy canes
The lair was a marvellous sight to behold at Christmas, and it never ceased to amaze it's inhabitants, no matter how many times they had seen it. At times you wouldn't even believe it was down in the sewers. Not even April, who spent every Christmas she had in the luxurious parlour of distant relatives, surrounded by the enticing warmth of a fire and the mesmerising glow of expensive Christmas-themed ornaments, could tear her eyes away from the scene that sat before her. The atmosphere was thick with festive cheer.
That same festive cheer, however, could not quite be felt the same way within the quiet air of the dojo.
"...Candy canes, Sensei?"
The look that was plastered over Leo's face as he spoke could be described as nothing less than dubious. His brothers too, shared this same look, all with exception of Mikey who, as usual, seemed to be living through these events in a totally different world. His eyes were alive with the excitement that you would expect from a young child on Christmas morning as they ripped open their presents to claim the prizes inside, eager to play with their new toys.
"Candy canes." the old rat repeated plainly, ignoring the questioning looks he was receiving from his sons. Amazingly he had been able to keep a straight face through his speech so far, though only just. The transformations in their facial expressions as he detailed to them the daily training schedule were priceless, and it took all of his training and willpower to stop himself from losing his composure. He glanced down at the striped weapons they held loosely in their hands, "I trust you all understand?"
"Totally!" Mikey piped up almost instantly, waving his arms above his head in an excited fashion as if to attract the attention of his Sensei, the ridiculous display being rewarded with a smack across the back of the head from Raph.
"Like you understand anything we say."
"Do to!"
The rat frowned and cleared his throat, loudly, to silence his sons. They obliged - eventually, Raph having took another swipe at his younger brother before finally settling down. Satisfied, he moved his attention over to his other sons, from whom he expected a sensible reaction from. Finally his eyes rested upon the eldest, - and in turn, most mature - who still wore an incredulous look on his features, "Leonardo?"
"Well..." the leader began, fidgeting with the back of his blue mask, "With all due respect, Sensei, we're ninjas. We can't exactly fight with giant pieces of candy."
The rat's expression remained unchanged, "Ninjas have always had to adapt, Leonardo. This is no different."
"Well sure." Leo replied, frowning as he picked up the object that sat before him, before looking at the rat once more,"But...candy canes?"
Raph chimed in, "Seriously! What kind of shell brain thinks about ninjas when they hear candy canes?" there was a brief pause, before he looked over at Mikey, intercepting his inevitable words, "Don't say anything."
"Awww!"
"Look, Sensei." Donnie sighed, impatience laced in his voice, "What we're trying to say is that, well, candy canes aren't exactly...threatening enough. You can't seriously be expecting us to go marching into The Shredder's lair waving around sticks of candy!?" The rat was both amused and horrified at the mental image rolling through his mind, but he waved it away quickly.
Turning his attention quickly back to the matter at hand, he smiled slightly and continued his charade, "I don't see why not. It has been done before, after all."
Raph snorted, crossing his arms, "Yeah? By who?"
"Santa?" Mikey offered, earning him another slap on the head from Raph, followed by a heavy whack to the shell with a cane and a spiteful look from both Donnie and Leo, "What?! For all you know Santa could be training a secret army of NINJA ELVES!"
"Yeah, and Lamenardo's got a life, Donnie and April are getting married, and you've got a brain!"
"Hey!" both Donnie and Leo fumed in unison, drilling holes into their brother's head with their fiery gaze.
"Enough!" the rat's voice boomed throughout the room, silencing the four turtles instantly and freezing them in place as they sat, apprehensive of their Sensei's next move; which they had come to expect as some form of punishment. Rightfully so. After all, they had a knack for getting into trouble. He would be surprised if they thought otherwise.
"We will now begin training." he announced wearily after a few minutes, "...With the canes." he added, hiding one final mischievous grin as he destroyed the looks of relief that had momentarily sprung across his sons' features.
Such is Father's job, at Christmas.
...Ugh. This one's dreadful. I acknowledge it. It would have been so much easier to draw ._.
I do not own the turtles or anything affiliated with them.
